Believing In People

Believing in People

A wealthy businessman in a small town had signs printed and placed all over the town. They stated that if any person in the town who owed debts, would come to his office on a certain day between nine and twelve in the morning, he would pay those debts. Naturally, that promise was the talk of the town. But very few believed it. They thought there was a catch somewhere. The day came. The business man sat in his office at nine. Bu ten, no one had come. At eleven, a man was seen walking up and down outside, occasionally looking up at the office door. Finally he seemed to take courage and open it. He put his head in and asked, "Is it true that you will pay any person's debt?""That's right," the rich man replied. "Are you in debt?" "I certainly am," the caller answered. "Do you have along the bills and statements to proveit?" The visitor produced the documents and the business man wrote out a check covering all of them. Before twelve o'clock, two other men came and had their debts paid. People outside could not believe it. But now there was no time left to have their bills paid.

If people don't believe in the goodness of man, how can they believe in the goodness of God?'

Education

An Arab sheik was getting along in years and he felt that it was time to name one of his sons his successor. He had three sons, who were triplets. He loved them all equally and did not know which of them to choose as a successor. So he sent them off to a distant land and promised that the one who would come back with the most useful learning would get the birthright. The three went off to distant lands; attended universities and visited exotic places. The first brother invented magic glasses with which he could see any place he wished to see on earth. The second perfected a magic carpet on which he sat and zoomed to any part of the earth in five minutes. The third son invented a medicine that could cure any sickness. After some years the three came together for a birthday party and explained what they had found. The first son looked through his magic glasses and saw his father dying. The second invited the other two to hop onto his magic carpet and within five minutes they were at their father's side. There the third son took out his magic medicine and cured his father at once. Now the sheik was more confused than ever, since it took the work of all three of them to save his life....

That is the story of Christian education. It needs three places of schooling: the home, the church and the classroom. If one of them is lacking, the other two won't work.

Forgiveness Of Sins

A missionary on one of the islands was sitting in his cool seaside hut one day when one of the village women came in, carrying a handful of dripping sand she had just picked up off the beach. "Do you know what this is?" she asked. "It looks like sand," said the missionary. "Do you know why I brought it here?" she asked. "No. I can't imagine why," the padre answered. "Well, these are my sins," the women explained. "My sins are as countless as the sands of the sea. How can I ever obtain forgiveness for all of them.?" "You got that sand down by the shore, didn't you?" said the missionary. "Well, take it back there, and pile it up into a heaping mound of sand at the water's edge. Then you sit back and watch the tide come in and slowly wash away the pile altogether. That is how God's forgiveness works."...

In Isaiah 1:18 God says to the people: "Now, let's settle this matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool."